1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for an aircraft to operate in the air and under water.
2. Background
An aircraft is a vehicle that is capable of flying through the atmosphere. Aircraft may come in various forms. For example, an aircraft may be a fixed-wing aircraft, such as an airplane. An aircraft also may take the form of a rotary-wing aircraft, such as a helicopter. Aircraft are capable of travelling from an origination point to a destination point relatively quickly. Aircraft are suitable for many different types of missions. Aircraft, however, may be easily detected in many cases.
With respect to operations involving bodies of water, it may be desirable to avoid detection when travelling from an origination point to a destination point. With this type of situation, an under water vehicle, such as a submarine, may be desirable. A submarine, however, may take a longer amount of time to travel from an origination point to a destination point.
It may be desirable to perform operations in the air and under the water. For example, it may be desirable to travel by air until some distance before the destination. Traveling in the air may be desirable to increase the speed at which the vehicle may reach the destination. Travelling under the water for the remaining distance to the destination may be performed to avoid detection.
A vehicle that operates in both the air and under the water may be difficult to design and manufacture. For example, a submarine is heavy to allow the submarine to operate under water. In contrast, an aircraft is typically designed to be light to allow the aircraft to fly in the air. Current aircraft do not have a capability to provide neutral buoyancy with the structures used in aircraft. These two types of operations have opposing design constraints in terms of the structure and design needed for performing the different operations.
A single vehicle that is capable of performing operations in the air and under water may be difficult to manufacture and design because of the different considerations used in designing aircraft and submarines.
One solution may be to employ a two vehicle system that has two parts in which one vehicle is capable of flying and carrying a second submersible vehicle. This type of two-vehicle solution, however, may require the aircraft to remain on and/or near the surface of the water or leave the area, while the submersible vehicle performs a mission. Leaving the aircraft on the surface may be disadvantageous if the mission requires the participants to be undetected. Further, leaving the surface also may expend extra fuel and separate the two vehicles by distance, which may reduce readiness in case an emergency occurs.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that takes into account one or more of the issues discussed above as well as possibly other issues.